CHAPTER 4.1: ENTERING YOUR RANCH INFORMATION
When you first enter Ranch Vision or when you create a new Ranch Vision file, you will see a menu bar like figure 4.1. The only menus available to you at this time are the File menu, the Ranch menu and the Help menu. The only menu item available to you if you choose the Ranch menu will be Setup. Choose Setup once you are ready to begin entering information regarding the ranch. You will then see a dialog box like figure 4.2.
In the upper portion of this dialog box, enter personal information about the ranch you wish to analyze. Below this are three questions regarding livestock enterprises. Enterprises are defined as business undertakings that have a potential return and can be separated at least partially from other business undertakings. Choose the appropriate response for each question. The answers to these three questions will enable Ranch Vision to identify which questions to ask later on. For example if you choose (no) in response to the question concerning goat enterprises, Ranch Vision will not ask further questions about goats.
The next question asks you to identify which month the inventory was taken. This refers to the inventory date which is the day you counted the livestock. This day is important because all projections by Ranch Vision begin from that time. The inventory date can occur at any time throughout the year except during parturition or weaning because at those times animals are in the process of arriving at or leaving from the ranch. Because of the way projections are made it is also preferable that the inventory date occur at the beginning of the month. Choose the month that corresponds to when the inventory date occurred.
The last question in this dialog screen gives a choice of entering weights in either pounds or kilograms. Click on the unit system that you prefer to use.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog, click on the Help button on the dialog. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to the dialog choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers.
When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog select Done, and you will return to the main menu. Under the menu heading Ranch, additional menu items will now be available to you. These might include General Cattle Information, General Sheep Information or General Goat Information in accordance with how you answered the questions in this dialog.
GENERAL INFORMATION SCREEN DIALOGS
Upon completion of the menu item Setup under the main menu heading Ranch, you will find that several additional menu items become available. These might include General Cattle Information, General Sheep Information and/or General Goat Information in accordance with the answers given in Ranch Setup. Once you are ready to enter additional information regarding the ranch, choose these menu items.
When you choose the General Cattle Information menu item under the Ranch menu, you will find a dialog box that looks like figure 4.3. Answer the questions within this dialog box from the top down. Lower questions may or may not need to be answered based on responses to previous questions. The first question asks if you wish to analyze a cow-calf enterprise. A cow-calf enterprise is an enterprise consisting of breeding cattle that produces calves as its product. Select the appropriate response to this question. If you answer (yes) to this question three additional questions below this one will need to be answered. If you answer (no) to this question then these later questions will remain "grayed out" and should be ignored.
The first of these questions is if the inventory date occurred after weaning and before calving (between weaning and calving) or if it occurred after calving and before weaning (between calving and weaning). The answer to this question will help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate response to this question.
The next question concerns whether heifers first calve as two year olds or three year olds in the cow-calf enterprise. Choose the appropriate response.
The following question concerns when the calves in the cow-calf enterprise are weaned. Choose the month when the calves are weaned.
The next question asks if you wish to analyze stocker enterprises. A stocker enterprise is an enterprise that takes weaned cattle and holds them and later resells them (usually after they have gained weight). Choose the appropriate response. If you answer (yes) to this question and if you also answered (yes) to the question about analyzing a cow-calf enterprise, a further question will be asked. This question is if you wish to look at having stockers acquired from outside the cow- calf herd. This means do you wish to analyze a stocker enterprise composed of cattle other than calves produced by the cow-calf enterprise. This question will appear "grayed out" and should be ignored if you answered (no) to either of the previous two questions. The answer to these last two questions help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate responses.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog screen, click on the Help button on the dialog screen. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to this dialog screen choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers. When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog screen select Done, and you will return to the main menu.
When you choose the General Sheep Information menu item under the Ranch menu, you will find a dialog screen that looks like figure 4.4. Answer the questions within this dialog screen from the top down. Lower questions may or may not need to be answered based on the responses to previous questions. The first question asks if you wish to analyze a ewe-lamb enterprise. A ewe-lamb enterprise is an enterprise consisting of breeding sheep that produces lambs as its product. Select the appropriate response to this question. If you answer (yes) to this question then three additional questions below this one will need to be answered. If you answer (no) to this question then these later questions will remain "grayed out" and should be ignored.
The first of these questions is if the inventory date occurred after weaning and before lambing (between weaning and lambing) or if it occurred after lambing and before weaning (between lambing and weaning). The answer to this question will help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate response.
The following question concerns whether ewes first lamb as one year olds or two year olds in the ewe-lamb enterprise. Choose the appropriate response.
The next question concerns when the lambs in the ewe-lamb enterprise are weaned. Choose the month when the lambs are weaned.
If the inventory date occurred between weaning and lambing, you will be asked if the ewes are pregnancy tested before the inventory date. If the breeding ewes in the ewe-lamb enterprise had been tested for pregnancy as of the inventory date choose (yes), otherwise choose (no). If the inventory date occurred between lambing and weaning this question will appear "grayed out" and should be ignored.
The next question asks if you wish to analyze feeder lamb enterprises. A feeder lamb enterprise is an enterprise that takes weaned sheep and holds them and later resells them usually after they have gained weight. Choose the appropriate response. If you answer (yes) to this question and if you also answered (yes) to the question about analyzing a ewe-lamb enterprise, a further question will be asked. This question asks if you wish to look at having feeder sheep acquired from outside the ewe-lamb flock. This means do you wish to analyze a feeder lamb enterprise composed of sheep other than lambs produced by the ewe-lamb enterprise. This question will appear "grayed out" and should be ignored if you answered (no) to either of the previous two questions. The answer to these last two questions help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate response.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog screen, click on the Help button on the dialog screen. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to this dialog screen choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers. When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog screen select Done, and you will return to the main menu.
When you choose the General Goat Information menu item under the Ranch menu, you will find a dialog screen that looks like figure 4.5. Answer the questions within this dialog screen from the top down. Lower questions may or may not need to be answered based on the responses to previous questions. The first question asks if you wish to analyze a doe-kid enterprise. A doe-kid enterprise is an enterprise consisting of breeding goat that produces kids as its product. Choose the appropriate response to this question. If you answer (yes) to this question then three more questions below this one will need to be answered. If you answer (no) to this question then these later questions will remain "grayed out" and should be ignored.
The first of these questions is if the inventory date occurred after weaning and before kidding (between weaning and kidding) or if it occurred after kidding and before weaning (between kidding and weaning). The answer to this question will help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate response.
The following question concerns whether does first kid as one year olds or two year olds in the doe-kid enterprise. Choose the appropriate response.
The next question concerns when the kids in the doe-kid enterprise are weaned. Choose the month when the kids are weaned.
If the inventory date occurred between weaning and kidding, you will be asked if the does are pregnancy tested before the inventory date. If the breeding does in the doe-kid enterprise had been tested for pregnancy as of the inventory date choose (yes), otherwise choose (no). If the inventory date occurred between kidding and weaning this question will appear "grayed out" and should be ignored.
The next question asks if you wish to analyze feeder kid enterprises. A feeder kid enterprise is an enterprise that takes weaned goats and holds them and later resells them usually after they have gained weight. Choose the appropriate response. If you answer (yes) to this question and if you also answered (yes) to the question about analyzing a doe-kid enterprise, a further question will be asked. This question is if you wish to look at having feeder goats acquired from outside the doe-kid flock. This means do you wish to analyze a feeder kid enterprise composed of goats other than kids produced by the doe-kid enterprise. This question will appear "grayed out" and should be ignored if you answered (no) to either of the previous two questions. The answer to these last two questions help direct Ranch Vision as to the form of subsequent dialog screens. Choose the appropriate response.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog screen, click on the Help button on the dialog screen. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes that you made to this dialog choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers.
When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog select Done, and you will return to the main menu.
When all the relevant General Information menu items are done, the other menu items under the Ranch menu become available for data entry. In addition, the menu items become available under the relevant menus, Cattle, Sheep and/or Goats.
Upon completion of Setup, as well as the relevant General Information menu items all under the Ranch menu you may begin to enter information in the Forecasts menu item under the Ranch menu.
The Forecasts menu item allows you to enter expectations about the future trend of market forces. Whatever values you enter will be included in the subsequent projections made by Ranch Vision. You don't know for certain what will happen, of course, but you know something will happen. Take your best shot and see where that will lead you. Be encouraged to change your entries and see the corresponding affects on your ranch business.
When you choose the Forecasts menu item you will find a dialog box that looks like figure 4.6.
You will see several questions concerning the market trend of various commodities including cattle, sheep, wool, goats and mohair. Some of these questions may appear "grayed out" because they are not applicable to you. You should ignore these. For each of the questions that are not "grayed out" enter a value reflecting the possible direction of market prices. These numbers should be entered as a percentage. For example, if you expect cattle prices to increase 4 percent each year, enter (4) in the space provided for cattle market trend. If you expect sheep prices to fall by 2 percent each year enter (-2) in the space provided for sheep market trend.
The next question asks you to enter a value for projected inflation. Inflation will be manifested as increasing prices for the expenses incurred on the ranch. This number should be entered as a percentage. For example, if you expect prices of expense items to increase 4 percent each year, enter (4) in the space provided for inflation rate.
The next question concerns the opportunity interest rate. The opportunity interest rate is the rate of return possible from investing capital in its best alternative use. For example, you could sell your assets and put the money in the bank or buy mutual funds or treasury bills, etc... The annual rate of return that you could get from your best alternative investment is your opportunity interest rate. This enables Ranch Vision to determine the opportunity costs from your current investments. For more information about opportunity costs see page 188. This number should be entered as a percentage. For example, if you identify your opportunity interest rate as 6%, enter (6) in the space provided for opportunity interest rate.
The last question concerns the cost or market value of a Grazing Unit Month (G.U.M). A G.U.M is a measure of grazing and is defined as the amount of grass that will provide 10 megacalories of net energy per day for one twelfth of the year. This approximately equals the monthly needs of a 1000 lbs (450 kg) non-lactating cow in the last trimester of pregnancy. Enter the price of a G.U.M if you were buying or selling it. Ranch Vision uses this figure when calculating grazing expenses for replacement costs and break-even values.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog, click on the Help button on the dialog. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance in using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to this dialog choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers. When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog select Done, and you will return to the main menu.
Any time after completing Setup and the relevant General Information menu items all under the Ranch menu, you may enter information in the Additional Costs and Income menu item. This is also found under the Ranch menu.
The Additional Costs and Income menu item allows you to enter information regarding business proceedings extraneous to the grazing livestock enterprises. This includes information regarding debt, future capital purchases ,overhead costs, accounts receivable and additional enterprises that the ranch might have.
When you choose the Additional Costs and Income menu item under the Ranch menu, the first dialog screen you will see looks like figure 4.7. The first question concerns the amount of accounts payable. Accounts payable refer to debt that must be repaid within one year. Enter the total dollar amount for accounts payable for the ranch business.
The next group of spaces concerns loans payable. Loans payable refer to debt that does not need to be repaid within one year. Ranch Vision provides room for three different loans payable. The Balance is the amount still owed on a loan. Years left to pay refers to the amount of time before the loan is completely paid. The Interest rate refers to the rate the lender is charging for the use of the funds. For each of the loans payable for the ranch business, enter the balance, the years to pay and the interest rate.
The next group of spaces concerns future purchases of capital assets. Capital assets are items used to further production. For a livestock ranch this would include working facilities, fencing, equipment, vehicles, buildings, computers, etc... Ranch Vision provides room for five different future capital purchases. The Year to be Purchased refers to the number of years in the future when the purchase will take place. The Cost is the price to be paid for the capital asset. The Useful life is the number of years the asset can reasonably be expected to be of service. The Salvage Value refers to the resale value, if any, of the capital asset at the end of its useful life.
Ranch Vision provides room for the purchase of up to five different capital assets. For each enter the year in the future it is to be purchased (either 1,2,3,4 or 5), the expected cost, useful life and salvage value.
When you have completed this first dialog select the More button. You will then see a second dialog screen looking like figure 4.8. The first space requests the amount of Other Cash Overhead Costs. Overhead costs refer to costs that remain constant with changes in the level of production. For a discussion of overhead costs see Enterprise Analysis, page 160. Enter here the amount for all overhead costs to be paid out in cash except for the interest expenses on loans payable which are automatically determined by Ranch Vision.
The next group of questions concerns Other Non-Cash Overhead Costs. This should include all overhead costs not paid in cash. The first space is for Opportunity Rent. This applies only to ranches not paying rent on property being used. This would occur either because the property is owned by the ranch or because the use of the ranch is a gift. In either case the opportunity rent is the amount that would normally have to be paid to use such property. For a further discussion on opportunity costs see page 188. The next space is for Unpaid Labor. Unpaid labor is work performed by family or friends that is not compensated monetarily. Enter the market value of any unpaid labor. In the third space enter any non-cash overhead costs excluding opportunity rent and unpaid labor.
The next space requests the amount of Accounts Receivable. Accounts receivable refers to money loaned or credited to others that is expected to be repaid within one year. Enter the total dollar amount for accounts receivable for the ranch business.
The final group of questions concerns enterprises the ranch may have in addition to those grazing livestock enterprises being analyzed by Ranch Vision. Gross Product refers to the value of what is produced by an enterprise. The cash gross product is the amount of the gross product received in the form of money. Non- cash gross product is the amount of the gross product not received in the form of money. Direct Costs refer to those expenses that vary with the level of production of the enterprise. Cash direct costs are direct costs paid monetarily. Non-cash direct costs are direct costs not paid monetarily. For a deeper discussion about enterprises, gross products and direct costs, see Enterprise Analysis, page 160.
From these other ranch enterprises, total the cash and non-cash gross products and cash and non-cash direct costs. Then enter the totals in the spaces provided for each of the five years following the inventory date.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in a dialog, click on the Help button on the dialog box. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to this dialog box choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers. When you have answered all of the questions in the previous dialog boxes select Done, for each of them. You will then return to the main menu.
Any time after completing Setup and the relevant General Information menu items all under the Ranch menu, you may enter information in the Assets menu item. This also is found under the Ranch menu.
The Assets menu item allows you to enter information regarding the assets and depreciation expenses for the ranch.
When you choose Assets under the Ranch menu, you will see a dialog box that will look like figure 4.9.
Assets are all the forms of property held by a person or business. Current assets are those assets that will be transferred to cash or sold or consumed within one year. For a livestock ranch they would include cash, marketable securities, non-breeding livestock inventories, and accounts receivable. The accounts receivable information was recorded in the Additional Costs and Income menu item and will, therefore, not need to be re-entered here.
Enter the value of current assets as of the inventory date in the upper box. The two categories of current assets include Cash and Investments. Under Cash enter the cash on hand, checking account and savings account balances. Under Investments enter the value of stocks and bonds, mutual funds or other. When determining the value of your investments, do not include the value of the non- breeding livestock in the grazing livestock enterprises analyzed by Ranch Vision. Ranch Vision will automatically calculate and consider their value.
Non-current assets are those assets that will not be transferred to cash or sold or consumed within one year. For a livestock ranch they would include land, buildings, vehicles, equipment, machinery and the breeding livestock. When determining the value of your investments, do not include the value of the breeding livestock in the grazing livestock enterprises analyzed by Ranch Vision. Ranch Vision will automatically calculate and consider their value. In the lower left box enter the value of the non-current assets as of the inventory date.
Depreciation is the loss in value of an asset, particularly a capital asset, over time. For a further discussion on depreciation see Capital Depreciation, page 198. In the lower right box, enter the estimated depreciation expense for the year following the inventory date. The value entered should reflect the expected depreciation for the capital assets held by the ranch at the inventory date, and should not include depreciation for assets purchased after the inventory date. The depreciation on capital assets purchased after the inventory date will automatically be calculated and considered by Ranch Vision.
If at any point you need additional information about the questions being asked in this dialog, click on the Help button on the dialog box. The cursor will take the appearance of a question mark (?). You may then move the cursor to any part of the screen you wish to know more about and click on it. A Help window will appear that will give additional information about that subject. For additional assistance using the Help system see page 5. You may also select Glossary in the Help or see the Glossary at the back of the manual for help with definitions of terms.
If you wish to cancel changes made to this dialog box choose Cancel, and the questions will return to their previous answers. When you have answered all of the questions in this dialog box select Done, and you will return to the main menu.
